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So when am I ready?

  • Thread starter Thread starter jhan
  • Start date Start date
J

jhan

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#1
This has been asked here a lot, but I'll ask again.

When am I ready to play the music I REALLY want to play - with other musicians?

I started playing about a year ago after a twenty year hiatus. I practice about three hours a day, and am very disciplined, without being a fascist about it. I've jammed with a few people so far, but not along the lines of what I want to do. And quite frankly, the people I've played with haven't been too good. For example, I have yet to play with a drummer who'll leave me in the dust if I'm not prepared. (God, where is that drummer??!!)

Basically, I'm am extreme metal/prog guy. I might have the chance to audtion for a band in that genre (a little to the heavier side), but I'm scared sh__less about it. I'm a pretty confident fellow, but this music is somewhat technical, and very fast. I've always been a 'natural' musician, with an innate sense of harmony and rhythm, and I can play some pretty complicated stuff myself. But I'm not ready to walk into a rehersal space and bust out Necrophagist or Spastic Ink on command and tap all over the place and sweep arpegios at a hundred miles an hour while singing (screaming) back up vocals.

I'm not completely a train-wreck about this. I'm just trying to be realistic. I'm auditioning regardless of my fears. I'd just like to know if anyone has any pointers about how to prepare.

Thanks.
 
#2
You'll never be ready until you go in and play. It's only then that you realise how much you know and are capable of.

I am lucky, I have a video cd of the second rehearsal I ever did with the second band I joined. At the time I had been playing bass for about 7 months. Looking back, I was so not ready for that band. But they took me in anyway, and I learned a lot while it lasted. Definitely more than I would have, had I not joined them and spent more time playing on my own.
 
#6
There are always other musicians around at your level and more accomplished musicians that can tolerate a lesser bassist.

So, you're ready anytime. Just look around for people to play with. And, you never know until you venture out. If the audition turns out to be a train-wreck, you know where you stand and can consider it a learning experience. Then, practice more and try again!
 
#7
Now. If you feel scared playing technical stuff, just put an ad asking for like minded musicians to jam or go to an open mic night. You'll probably have to learn the blues, but learning the blues never hurts.

Simply put, play. Some cats start playing with others as soon as they know the first five notes on the E strings. Others wail in their bedroom until they are 55. I'd wager the first group produced a LOT more mature and versatile musicians.
 
#8
EddiePlaysBass said:
You'll never be ready until you go in and play. It's only then that you realise how much you know and are capable of.
Click to expand...

This is my answer word for word. The key word is confidence. You're ready when you can build up enough confidence in yourself to play in front of people. Sometimes, like me, you're forced to play in situations you think you're not ready for but after you play in those situations you realize you're better than you thought you were. We are all our own worst critics, I know I am. The moment you give yourself the thumbs up, that's when you're ready.
 
#9
There are so many factors involved in auditioning and whether a band decides to hire you. Really, it's not worth wasting your time worrying about. There are only a small number of factors you can control and the rest of it is out of your hands. If you want to play that music, then go for it and see what happens. In the end, it might not being about you or your skills at all, it might be about them.

Bands might make hiring decisions based on all sorts of criteria: your body, your equipment, your style, your age, your personality, your connections, your geographic location, your time constraints, your day job (if applicable), your ethnicity, your chops, your ego, your promptness, your grammar, etc. etc. etc. Plus, maybe your the first guy they audition and you seem pretty good. Maybe you're the last guy they audition and the guy before you was a chop monster. Maybe they play really loud or relatively quietly and it throws you off. There's just SO many factors.

Bottom line, you want to play that music so go for and see what happens. All you can do is all you can do.
 
#10
well I tend to beg to differ from everyone here. ONLY because my experience with a second guitarist. While I play I yell out the keys and he just can't learn the song. (and its been a month) ... In that case he needs to sit down and learn where all the keys are and the different positions on his fret board. My band is willing to tolerate his incompetence and "sometimes" embarASS us infront of crowds. We all like him, I like him, he is cool people it just gets a little frustrated. It not that our band doesn't have a choice but were like a familiy and WE ALL HAVE FUN when we play. but as far as being ready... He's now in the school of hard knocks and from my part tough love. (I don't own the band I'm just and employee but the band leader loves it when I yell at him). If it were my choice he would be gone. But that is HIS situation where he knows where he needs to improve on. SO THE QUESTION IN MY OPINION IS ... how knowledgeble are you on the bass? Cause with just enough knowledge you slip through the cracks, and patients, to be in THAT band. IF that isn't the case and your just scared??? TAKE YOUR FACKIN SKIRT OFF MAN!!!
 
#11
camello said:
well I tend to beg to differ from everyone here. ONLY because my experience with a second guitarist. While I play I yell out the keys and he just can't learn the song. (and its been a month) ... In that case he needs to sit down and learn where all the keys are and the different positions on his fret board. My band is willing to tolerate his incompetence and "sometimes" embarASS us infront of crowds. We all like him, I like him, he is cool people it just gets a little frustrated. It not that our band doesn't have a choice but were like a familiy and WE ALL HAVE FUN when we play. but as far as being ready... He's now in the school of hard knocks and from my part tough love. (I don't own the band I'm just and employee but the band leader loves it when I yell at him). If it were my choice he would be gone. But that is HIS situation where he knows where he needs to improve on. SO THE QUESTION IN MY OPINION IS ... how knowledgeble are you on the bass? Cause with just enough knowledge you slip through the cracks, and patients, to be in THAT band. IF that isn't the case and your just scared??? TAKE YOUR FACKIN SKIRT OFF MAN!!!
Click to expand...

The difference between guitarists and bassists, however, is that you can get away with a little more on a bass in rock music, at least IME. Now I realize that you at least need to know some basics but if you're keeping yourself from playing in a band just because of lack of experience then I'd say you're hyper criticizing yourself, just my opinion mind you.
 
#12
Like everything else, it's a progression. Jaco didn't sit around practicing and studying until he felt he was ready to stand toe-to-toe with Joe Zawinal and Wayne Shorter. He gigged and jammed with others. Even if they're not the greatest musicians in the world, playing in real time with real people is going to help you get your poop in a pile a lot faster than sitting in the bedroom. You'll learn what to do when things don't go the way you wanted them to, you'll learn a lot about how to EQ so your parts get heard, you'll learn a lot about dealing with people (THE MOST CRITICAL FACTOR OF BEING IN A BAND!!!), you'll met new people (the second most critical factor in being a working musician is contacts), and if you're smart you'll learn how to balance wanting to "...bust out Necrophagist or Spastic Ink on command and tap all over the place and sweep arpegios at a hundred miles an hour while singing (screaming) back up vocals." and playing stuff that locks with the drums and provides a big fat support for the SONG.

jte
 
#13
I'm not into that music myself, and have never taken any breaks spanning more than a month perhaps, except gigging breaks. Anyway...

It may be just me, but when I'm practicing by myself, I seem to be able to play in a more relaxed way and thus am able to play slightly more complicated stuff than I do live or on rehearsals. I guess it's the adrenaline that kicks in or something, because I start plucking harder and dig in more, preventing me from being able to play those more intricate lines. As a consequence, I've started playing more simple lines and concentrating on the groove instead when practicing, and skipping the complicated lines.

Speaking about groove, it's main component - timing - is worth mentioning here. I'm sure you're familiar with the huge importance of good timing, but there might be others reading this that aren't, or at least haven't experienced this truth in reality yet. You aren't really able to play something well unless you can play it in time along to a metronome or drum machine. Add in also the "adrenaline factor" that I mentioned above, and the lines are going to be even harder.

For a few years I have the luxury to play with a drummer who's rock steady and can groove and fill like no other drummer I've ever played with before. (Today he was happy because he had just been granted a €7000 scholarship to go to the US studying in August for some time. Here's a sample of his playing, recently recorded in Atlanta: Link Removed (the rock/pop song by daisy jack)). It has certainly been a blessing to play with someone who can groove as hard as him, because it builds up your own timing and ability to groove too, like nothing else. He's by the way 21, I'm 30... I anticipate a great career for him. :)

...Just pointing out the importance here to play with good musicians if you want to develop and playing stuff requiring some serious skills.
 

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